19/09/2005

The largest annual short and documentary film festival in the Nordic Countries, Nordic Panorama (23-28 September) rotating between five Nordic cities will take place this year in Bergen, Norway, where 60 films –40 shorts and 20 documentaries- will screen in competition.

The jury for the Documentary competition section consists of Danish documentary director Kasper Torsting, international distributor Esther van Messel from First Hand Films in Switzerland and Germany, and Igor Blazevic from One World Film Festival in the Czech Republic. The documentaries competing for the NOK 50,000 (6,300€) Nordic Panorama Award include the Zentropa Real production The Windpipe Of a Cornplant directed by the Danish duo Jonathan Kargaard and Anders Malmberg, Raw Youth by Norwegian director Margreth Olin, a Norwegian/Danish co-production between Speranza and Zentropa Real represented by Trust Film Sales, the Finnish award-winning film Three Rooms of Melancholia by Pirjo Honkasalo, as well as the opening film by established Norwegian director Trond Kvist The Swindler, a film produced and sold by Piraya Film.

Two high-profile European film professionals will be in Bergen to give masterclasses: French music composer Bruno Coulais who received a European Film Award in 2004 as Best composer for Les Choristes, will give a lecture on September 24, and established Danish editor Niels Pagh Andersen whose works include the Oscar-nominated Pathfinder by Nils Gaup and Christian by Gabriel Axel will discuss film editing on September 27. Pagh Andersen is also the editor of three documentaries competing this year at the festival: The 3 Rooms of Melancholia, the Danish/Swedish co-production Prostitution Behind The Veil by Nahid Persson, and the Danish film by Lars Johansson The German Secret.

On the business front, the ‘Hunt for Golden Euros’ on the 25th will be an opportunity for European commissioner Catherine Nes to present the TV Distribution support scheme of EU’s MEDIA Programme, and on September 26-27, the Nordisk Forum for co-financing of documentaries organised with Filmkontakt Nord, will present 22 new Nordic and Baltic documentary projects to 30-40 financiers.

Nordic Panorama held in Reykjavik last year welcomed some 500 international professionals and close to 7000 tickets were sold. Next year, the festival will travel to Århus, Denmark, in 2007 to Oulu, Finland, and in 2008 to Malmö, Sweden.